After a very successful foray into the world of Autobots and Decepticons with War for Cybertron, it makes complete sense that High Moon would be brought on to develop this most recent film’s tie in game. Obviously, with the inherent stigma surrounding games based on movies, fans of War for Cybertron would much rather see High Moon tell a continuation of that story, but unfortunately that isn’t the case just yet.

Despite what might be considered bad news, there is plenty that could go right with this Dark of the Moon adaptation. Set before the events of the Michael Bay film, this game will follow a story that hopefully High Noon was able put their say into.

Like War for Cybertron, and very much unlike the first two tie-in games – both horrendously bad – Dark of the Moon will allow players to alternate between vehicle and robot form for all combat scenarios. Being able to seamlessly transition into robot form and vice versa was just one of the elements that made High Noon’s adaptation so successful — truly capturing that Autobot/Decepticon experience made all the difference.

Dark of the Moon’s director even further reinforced the importance of keeping those dual combat roles in this iteration saying:

“In terms of similarities, we think people will be excited to know that we’re sticking with a similar control and gameplay scheme from War for Cybertron. We want you to be able to play in whichever (transformation) mode you want – you’re never without your weapons, but you’ve got choices.”

One other element that made the game so unique and so successful was its multiplayer component. Making a triumphant return in Dark of the Moon, High Moon promises to give this tie-in the same fully featured treatment they gave to War for Cybertron.

Though it might be a little frightening, at first, to think that a successful up-and-coming developer is working on a movie tie-in, when you think about the property involved and who is working on it, it makes a lot of sense. Not being forced to tell a story that is already written, but telling the origins of that story, and done under their own terms, Dark of the Moon could be just the sequel fans were looking for. That being said, the film comes out in months – how long do/did they have to work on it?

What are your thoughts on High Moon taking the reigns on the Dark of the Moon tie-in game? Do you think that this could be the title to break the stigma surrounding games based on movies?

Transformers: Dark of the Moon should hit store shelves alongside the film, which releases July 1, 2011.

WFC was great but I’m worried about this game sucking. Assuming they started development on this the day WFC came out, that only gives them a year to make the game which leads me to believe that it’s basically gonna be a complete copy of WFC only with a crappy story instead.